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Then there was Jazz and Screw, the duo Holly couldn’t help but gawk at. Screw had pulled Jazz onto his lap as well, but Holly’s new friend sat rigid as a statue.
“You ladies working on adding some of Holly’s stuff to the menu?” Zach asked as he nuzzled his nose in the crook of Toni’s neck.
LJ gave her waist a squeeze, almost as though he was proud of her new job. But that was ridiculous. Why the hell would he care?
“Actually,” Toni said, shooting a raised eyebrow in Jazz’s direction. Jazz just shook her head and finally settled back against Screw. He whispered something in her ear that had her relaxing even further. “We decided to create a To-Go option for customers who don’t have time to linger in the mornings. We’re going to turn part of the counter into a quick-grab section. This way, people heading to work can stop and grab a coffee and a pastry on the run. Holly’s going to work that portion of the counter and we’ll have an assortment of baked goods each day. What do you think?”
“Shit, babe, I think that sounds like a fucking great idea.” With Toni still on his lap, Zach reached forward and snagged a brownie. After taking a giant bite, he said, “And if the breakfast shit is half as good as this, they’ll be lined up around the building.”
The concept was a simple one. Holly running a breakfast-to-go counter. It wasn’t her restaurant, hadn’t been her idea, wasn’t even her completely choosing the menu, yet her blood zinged, and excitement had her practically hopping up to do a happy dance. Best part of the entire thing was the diner would pay for all the supplies and ingredients and Holly would make a regular paycheck plus have access to the diner for her online customers.
Resting his head on her shoulder, LJ whispered. “That’s fucking great news, sugar.”
“Thanks.”
“What do you say we get out of here and go celebrate?”
“Yeah?” Butterflies took flight in her stomach. When he looked at her like that, with a heavy-lidded hunger, she felt like a school girl with a mega crush. All giddy with anticipation.
“Yeah. We’ll steal a bottle of wine from Z and Toni, then take a ride into the mountains. Bet you haven’t had a chance to check out some of the overlooks yet, have you?”
Parking at a scenic overlook with LJ? High school Holly would have died and gone to heaven, had she known what was in store for adult Holly. A pack of rabid wildebeests couldn’t keep her away. “Let’s do it.”
LJ kissed her, a little longer and deeper this time, until she clung to the open flaps of his cut rather than melt into a pile of goo. After he ended it, he stood and set her on the couch before sweet-talking Toni into a bottle of wine.
“Hey, Hol! Yoohoo, you’re not allowed to be fuck drunk after one kiss,” Screw said, making her jump.
“Huh?” Holly blinked at the four people staring at her.
The four people who were also snickering.
Whatever. “Maybe you shouldn’t judge ’till you’ve been kissed by LJ.” And what lethal kisses they were.
With a snort, Screw gave her a wink. “I’ve tried, but he always turns me down.”
Huh? Holly shot a look to Jazz who just pursed her lips.
From the coffee table in front of her, Holly’s phone buzzed. Her father’s name appeared on the screen and just like that the wine soured in her stomach.
Dad: We need to chat. You home?
Oh, God, they so needed to chat. Ever since the night of her date with Schwartz, Holly had been avoiding both her parents. What the hell was she supposed to say? They had to have found out she was at the clubhouse party during the raid. Schwartz wouldn’t have kept that tidbit to himself. Which meant they had to be flipping out.
And that meant at some point, Holly was going to have to make a choice. Stay on the path they’d laid out for her as she’d been doing since she was twelve. Allow them to hold her back from experiencing life, though that was never their intention. They only wanted to keep her safe. Or for the first time in her life, stand on her own two feet and chase after something she wanted. Even if that broke out of the safe little box her parents trapped her in. Problem was, asserting her independence came with a heaping side order of guilt. Even without the wrench of LJ in the mix, knowing she’d be causing her parents sleepless nights and serious stress ate away at her. There had to be a middle ground where they didn’t try to control her but weren’t constantly afraid of receiving a phone call about her death.
Holly: Out with friends. Lunch tomorrow?
